New owners of the former Knights of Columbus building on the west bank of the Great Miami River are planning an indoor/outdoor multi-purpose entertainment complex that will embrace the waterway.
The combined facility, called Hamilton Landing, will open in three phases on about 2½ acres of riverfront at 930 Pyramid Hill Blvd.
First will be a large “beach-themed tiki bar” along the riverbank that can seat about 200, which the owners hope will open in the early summer, depending on when liquor licenses are approved. Events may happen even earlier.
New restaurant coming to Hamilton location where body shop operated for 80-plus years
Agave & Rye, a rapidly expanding regional upscale restaurant and bar chain, plans to move into the former Ritzi Body Shop location on Hamilton’s Main Street.
Hamilton’s Community Improvement Corporation members voted Thursday to sell the building to the restaurant for $1 in exchange for a $2.5 million investment on the property at the southeast corner of Main and E streets. Agave & Rye hopes to be operating there in 18 months.
“Their investment was 2½ times higher than the next closest proposal,” said Hamilton Small-Business Development Specialist Mallory Greenham. “They’re expected to add 50-60 jobs to Hamilton.”
Marcum developer now planning 75-80 apartments on Main Street in Hamilton
Jim Cohen, whose company developed The Marcum project of apartments and retail in downtown Hamilton, has increased the number of apartments he’s planning to build in the 300 block of Main Street.
The new number is 75 to 80, up from earlier estimates of 50-plus and, later at least 70.
City Council on March 24 likely will give city staff permission to enter a slightly altered development with Cohen, owner of CMC Properties.
“I think it’s 80,” Cohen said Monday. “We’re just getting into the design development, so as we revise the plans, and firm things up, and get engineering, it’s kind of settling in to what we’re ultimately going to do.”
‘Amazing accomplishment’: 80 Acres produce made in Hamilton now Kosher certified
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Hamilton-based 80 Acres Farms recently received Kosher certification, and a rabbi who is part of that approval said he was astounded at how well the indoor-farming company keeps insects from its produce, even though it uses no pesticides.
“It’s an amazing, amazing accomplishment,” said Rabbi Avrohom Weinrib, administrator of Cincinnati Kosher, which now oversees about 50 establishments in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Indiana.
The not-for-profit organization soon also will be known as Central Kosher as it expands regionally. Both organizations will use the symbol of a circle around the letters CK.
Hamilton City Council approves $1.5M purchase of 86 acres near Tylersville Road: What’s next for it?
Hamilton City Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of 86 acres of land along Tylersville Road for $1.5 million using city electric funds.
The city used that money, according to a report to council, because the land may be needed to create green energy in the future.
In response to questions from this media outlet, officials did not specify what kind low-carbon energy might be generated there by the city, which operates its own electric and other utilities. Windmills may be difficult to position there because of proximity to the Butler County Regional Airport.
‘We need stuff to happen’: Hamilton eyeing 5 Lindenwald business properties, including former theater
Hamilton City Council will hear the first reading tonight whether to consider spending about $450,000 to buy five properties, four on Pleasant Avenue in the Lindenwald business district, and another in the 400 block of Main Street.
They include the property housing the former Grand theater, at 2233 Pleasant Ave., and a house next door at 2241 Pleasant. Other properties include 2255 and 2275 Pleasant and the podiatry building at 412 Main St.
News of the pending purchases delighted Jane Curry, co-owner of Kensho Traditional Shotokan Karate at 2251 Pleasant Ave., whose business is located next to one of the properties.
“We need stuff to happen in order to get things moving in the area,” Curry said. “If the city can encourage new business to go in, I think that would be beneficial. It would free up those buildings, because right now they’re being used as storage space, or they’re just sitting empty. So this would really help revitalize the neighborhood.
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